The Open Network Automation Platform on Tuesday issued its second software release, named “Beijing,” with a goal of making deployment of the platform easier. The latest release targeted improvements for the group’s “seven dimensions of deployability:” manageability, performance, resiliency, scalability, security, stability and usability. Beijing incorporates TM Forum’s Open APIs — which carry MEF-defined payloads…
AT&T, Nokia Announce IoT Partnership
AT&T announced an agreement with Nokia to give its business customers around the world access to the Finnish telecom equipment giant’s global Internet of Things network. The companies will also partner to develop next-generation IoT services and pave the way to global 5G networks, officials said in a statement. “This collaboration proves our commitment to…
Amsterdam’s Robot Printed Bridge Wins European Innovation Prize
Amsterdam’s robot printed steel bridge has been awarded the European Commission’s prestigious STARTS Prize 2018, which champions innovative projects at the interface of science, technology and art. STARTS recognizes digital transformation projects that have the potential to contribute to economic and social innovation. The 3D-printed pedestrian bridge is the product of the innovative collaboration of…
Federated Wireless, BLiNQ Outline Fixed Wireless Potential in CBRS Band
Canadian networking software company BLiNQ Networks said it will be able to offer a solution for shared spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band under a recent agreement with Federated Wireless. “We see the tremendous potential that shared spectrum holds for WISPs and MSOs to cost-effectively expand their wireless coverage,” BLiNQ Business Development and Product Management…
Qualcomm, Facebook Announce Fixed Wireless Broadband Collaboration
Qualcomm and Facebook this month announced an effort to deliver high-speed internet to urban areas around the world over unlicensed, high-band spectrum. The chip maker and social media giant said Qualcomm’s chipsets would be integrated with Facebook’s Terragraph technology, which uses millimeter wave wireless backhaul to establish efficient outdoor broadband connectivity in the unlicensed 60…
UN Agency Chief: Africans Fear Fallout of US-ZTE Standoff
The U.N. telecommunications agency’s chief says several African countries are concerned about the possible fallout if Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. collapses in a standoff with the United States. Houlin Zhao, secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union, said such concerns were raised at the Transform Africa conference in Rwanda this month. Speaking Monday to…
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Aims To Get Its Rhythm Back
NASA’s Curiosity rover could soon be drilling rocks on Mars again. Engineers have been working for the past year to restore the rover’s full drilling capabilities, which were hampered in 2016 due to a mechanical problem. Later this weekend, they’ll be adding percussion to a new technique already in use on Mars. This new technique is called Feed Extended…
Study: Offloading Some Video Traffic Could Save US Carriers More than $500M
Technology that routes mobile video traffic to the internet — instead of network cores — could save U.S. carriers $546 million over five years, a newly released report suggests. The analysis from Mavenir examined the impact of virtualized media breakout controllers, which send high-data traffic directly to the internet, and thereby extend the capabilities of…
County Council Makes It Easier to Install New Equipment
A Maryland county council has made it easier for wireless internet companies to install new equipment on utility poles in commercial and mixed-use areas. News outlets report the Montgomery County Council voted to allow the new equipment Tuesday. The changes come as wireless companies say they need more leeway to boost internet speeds via the…
Budget Airline Spirit Says It’s Going All in on WiFi
Spirit Airlines says it will sell internet access on planes by summer 2019 to improve customer service and the discount carrier’s image. The Miramar, Florida-based airline said Friday on average it will charge $6.50 per flight but sometimes more. That’s less than WiFi on other carriers, although some offer free content or mobile messaging. Spirit…
You Can’t Build a New Future by Continually Re-working the Past
Earlier this year, the TM Forum launched its Open Digital Architecture approach. It seeks to encapsulate a lot of the good work that has already taken place on operator digital transformation and set out a blueprint for the future of BSS and OSS systems. And when you are looking to create something new, having a…
Verizon Using SDN to Combine Edge Routers onto Single Platform
Verizon announced this week it is combining its existing edge routers onto a single platform in hopes of bolstering its network efficiency and deploying new technology more quickly. The carrier, along with Cisco and Juniper Networks, said software-defined networking technology would enable the companies to join Verizon’s service edge routers for Ethernet and IP-based services.…
Robots Complete First 3D Printed Bridge
Robots just built the first 40-foot 3D printed bridge ready to install over the canal in Amsterdam next year, according to GE Reports. Built at the Joris Laarman Lab, the MX3D Bridge inspires the possibility of creating structures in midair with local, recycled materials. The entire project was constructed from a new type of steel…
Wireless-enabled CCTV: Providing 24/7 Critical Coverage of Our Communities
With the global population sitting comfortably at 7.6 billion people and set to skyrocket within the next 10 years, major cities are bursting at the seams with more and more inhabitants. The U.K. alone is set to see an extra 5.2 million city dwellers by 2037. However, with this consistent rise in population comes the increased…
Study Points to Potential Problems with In-Building FirstNet Service
A newly released report urges equipment vendors, building owners and other stakeholders to ensure their systems will work properly within buildings as AT&T deploys the FirstNet public safety network. The study from ABI Research, titled “Public Safety DAS in the FirstNet Era,” examined AT&T’s FirstNet buildout as it relates to Distributed Antenna Systems and in-building…
Nokia Debuts Compact Edge Server
Nokia on Wednesday unveiled a compact server that aims to process data closer to end-users and accommodate next-generation technologies. The Finnish telecom equipment company said the AirFrame Open Edge Server represents the industry’s first edge cloud data center solution. The server, at roughly five inches high, 18 inches wide and 17 inches deep, is small…
O’Hare, Midway Airports to Offer Unlimited Free WiFi
O’Hare and Midway international airports will now be providing free unlimited Wi-Fi making long layovers a little more bearable. The Chicago Department of Aviation says the airports previously provided free Wi-Fi with a 30 minute limit. Passengers will now have access to unlimited Wi-Fi — plus streaming capabilities — with rolling ads every 45 minutes.…
AT&T Announces Tower Leasing Agreement with CitySwitch
AT&T on Tuesday announced an agreement with Atlanta wireless infrastructure company CitySwitch to construct new cellular towers. The companies said in a statement that the towers will be built-to-suit based on future wireless network demands. AT&T will lease the completed sites from CitySwitch, and the deal will also enable the carrier to relocate equipment from…
Open Makes a World of Difference for Communications Service Providers as NFV Takes Off
Out with the old — in with the new! Gone are the days when vendors and suppliers are able to lock in communications service providers (CSPs) with expensive equipment, complex hardware, closed software systems and the related layers of expense associated with inflexible technology. In the old world, rolling out a new service required months…
AT&T Announces LTE Network Upgrades in 117 New Markets
AT&T said Friday that it dramatically expanded the number of markets served by its “5G Evolution” network technology. The carrier said it upgraded cell towers in parts of 117 more markets to bring the total served by those technologies to 141 across the country. AT&T Labs President and CTO Andre Fuetsch wrote in a blog…
xRAN Forum Announces First Specification
The xRAN Forum on Friday unveiled its inaugural industry specification and said it was likely to be the first of several introduced this year. Officials said xRAN Fronthaul Specification Version 1.0 will enable companies to develop remote radio and baseband units that could be widely deployed — with virtualized infrastructure and management systems using standardized data…
AT&T, Crown Castle Expand Leasing Pact to Include Small Cells, FirstNet
AT&T on Wednesday announced an expansion of the carrier’s long-term leasing agreement with tower giant Crown Castle. The carrier said the deal would streamline lease management and operations and give AT&T more flexibility to deploy new technologies and increase capacity. The company noted that the agreement would cover the small cell installations needed for 5G…
Bricks, Mortar and Broadband — the Modern Home Must-Haves
It wasn’t that long ago when a home was simply a roof and four walls, providing the basic amenities a person might need. Today, the concept of a home has significantly evolved to become a bustling communications hub where screens flicker at every turn and signals zip throughout the premise to connect devices. The result?…
Utilizing Finite Element Analysis (FEA) For Flexible Heater Designs – Part 2
In Part One of this article, we introduced the basic concepts of flexible heaters and the finite element analysis techniques that can be used to determine the size of a heater needed for a particular application. Here, in Part Two, we will discuss material selection and techniques for testing and verifying the design. Modeling/Material Selection…
China Mobile Selects Nokia Equipment for Regional Network
Nokia announced Monday that it will provide equipment for a major regional network in China after finishing atop a bidding process by the world’s largest wireless carrier. The Finnish telecom equipment giant said China Mobile’s optical transport network, which is already being deployed, would include 13 metropolitan and two provincial backbone networks. Company officials said…